Where art thou, David Dow?: July 2009

Singapore

The Captain, Executive Officer, and myself enjoying a beer after a round of golf at Marina Bay Golf Course (I beat both of them- don't tell anyone).

The view from our room at the Mandarin Oriental hotel, downtown Singapore. A five star hotel in downtown Singapore... life is tough.

The Merlion. It's the mascot of singapore. I guess it's the head of a lion and the body of a fish. This is the main one that overlooks the bay. I am now the proud owner of a Merlion mug and bottle opener.

Sattahip, Thailand - MEDCAP

We spent a few days doing medical and dental community service on some of the poorer Thai people. It was a lot of work, but not nearly as much as Indonesia.

Pattaya, Thailand

On the sidewalk next to the beach

Right before the welcoming party

Pattaya is a resort town outside of Bangkok. Picture Key West meets Vegas and they move to Thailand together. We stayed there for a few days while doing our medical mission work. It was certainly a nice place to come home to. We stayed in a world class resort with private beach, pools, and all kinds of luxury. We walked the town at night, had a few drinks, visited the fancy massage parlors, and had some of the best thai food in the world. We also had a party one night to celebrate the old dentist leaving and my arrival. It was a great thing to do before going to the ship.

Jakarta - Medical Civil Action Program (MEDCAP)

Doc Kim

HM2 (Hospital Corpsman 2nd class) Menguita playing with one of the kids.

USS Harpers Ferry LSD-49

On the equator near Malaysia.

From the dock in Sattahip, Thailand. My first time seeing the ship during the day.

From the LCU in Jakarta, Indonesia. One of the marines admiring from the deck.

Max wanted to know if we had RAM launchers on the ship. Yes, two of them.

Jakarta, Indonesia

Thuan, Tim, and me at the port in Jakarta trying to figure out why our transportation is messed up.

Indonesian armed escorts for our LCU. I don't know how a speed boat full of guys with only one rifle is going to protect us... but at least they have dumb hats.

City of Jakarta from the hotel room window. One of the largest cities in the world, over twice the size of Chicago. It goes on and on. It's hard to tell from the pictures because the haze from the ocean and the smog limit visibility. Very nice place though. The people were great and there was a lot to see and do.

Masjid Istiqlal - (Independence Mosque) is the largest mosque in Southeast Asia. This national mosque of Indonesia was build to commemorate Indonesian independence. Therefore the national mosque of Indonesia was named "Istiqlal", an arabic word for "Independence". It's much bigger than it looks in the photos. I have some pictures on my other camera on the inside. We paid some guy $5 to show us around because we didn't know the protocol and we didn't want to screw up and offend anyone.

The Monumen Nasional - (or Tugu Monas, the National Monument tower) is a 450 ft tall tower in Central Jakarta, symbolizing the fight for Indonesia's independence. It is topped by a 14.5 ton bronze flame, which is plated in gold. The design of the monument is meant to combine elements of masculine and feminine. In the background you can see the Independence Mosque.

Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok is an amazing city. I stayed in a classic but modern hotel in the heart of Chinatown near the old city and all of the temples. It was only $50 to stay for the night, so I upgraded to the deluxe room for $20. Apparently, this meant I was a big deal and when I arrived they had a sign up welcoming me and hot thai tea waiting. The staff was very friendly and often stopped in just to talk with me. I took a taxi to get to some of the main temples, and the driver stayed with me all day and made sure I went to the best ones for 400 baht ($12). I only had the one day to see all I could, so I didn't make it to the Grand Palace, but I still saw over 10 of the best temples, the Golden Mountain, and many other sites. I have many more pictures, but here is just a sample...

Inside the Ubosot - A building in a Buddhist Wat. It is the holiest prayer room, also called the "ordination hall" as it is where ordinations take place.

The view on top of the Golden Mountain (Phu KhaoThong) of Bangkok.

Wat Pho - One of the largest and oldest wat (monestary temple) in Bangkok. It's home to more than one thousand Buddha images, as well as one of the largest single Buddha images: the Reclining Buddha.

4th of July

Since the entire Sasebo fleet is deployed right now, the 4th party and picnic was mostly family members and Japanese citizens from town. They gave all the Japanese people little American flags and fans with flags printed on them. They had Japanese bands that played Americana music like a Beatles cover band and a CCR cover band. They also had local dancers come to celebrate "America Birthday" and show respect. Lots of food, both Japanese and American.

Nagasaki and Peace Park

Hypocenter - I'm sitting on the spot where the bomb exploded. 73,884 dead, 74,909 injured.

Fountain of Peace- Many of those killed in the atomic bombing died calling for water. This fountain is dedicated to their memory. The inscribed passage is taken from the diary of a young woman who experienced the bombing. She wrote, "I was so terribly thirsty..." The constantly changing pattern of the falling water looks like the wing-beats of a dove... apparently.

Flame of Commitment - The flame on the top of this torch is actually the Olympic flame received by the City of Nagasaki from Greece in 1983. It's the only time the flame has been removed for something other than the olympics. They will keep it burning until all world nuclear weapons are gone.

Urakami Cathedral Wall - The biggest most elaborate Catholic church in all of East Asia until it was destroyed in the bombing (Nagasaki has (had) a huge christian population because it was the premiere trading harbor with the East since the 18th century). This section of the southern wall of the sanctuary was saved and rebuilt.

Peace Statue - This thing is massive! I am sitting 20 feet from the base of the statue unveiled in 1955 on the 10th anniversary of the atomic bombing. The right hand points to the sky and the threat of nuclear weapons, while the left hand symbolizes peace. The eyes are closed in a prayer for the dead.

Peace park is covered with these long strands of hand-made Origami cranes. Each statue and memorial had hundreds of strands of thousands of cranes. This is just one spot.

Something I learned - The "Bockscar" was actually flying to Kokura, Japan to drop the bomb, but due to visibility issues it changed course to Nagasaki since the company Mitsubishi (yeah, crazy huh) had a massive arms factory there.